


5 Ways ET Shows Nav He Can Be Subtle

by somebodysangel



Series: Skyeyes and Ocean Eyes [5]
Category: Sea Patrol (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff, Pre-Relationship, These Two Are Not Subtle, celibacy pledge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-08-03 11:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16325138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somebodysangel/pseuds/somebodysangel
Summary: As the title says, ET tries to show Nav how he feels about her, while also being Subtle. Set early S2, between 2.03 and 2.04.





	5 Ways ET Shows Nav He Can Be Subtle

Nav drank a lot of coffee. A lot more than the rest of the crew, so she often had to make her own in between the regular coffee runs.

It was during one of these solo journeys that she found it.

In the cupboard with the generic white plastic mugs, at the front of the shelf that held the personal decorated mugs of the crew. A white mug, patterned with frangipanis.

She picked it up, felt the solid weight of melamine and smiled. Not plastic, as she hated, but not breakable ceramic either.

Turning it over in her hands, she noticed writing on the base. That made sense; everyone who used a personal mug labelled it with their name. But the name on this mug was her own.

“NAV” was written on the base in thick black texta, in handwriting not her own. For a moment she stared at the letters, trying to recognise the square, blocky handwriting. Then it clicked and she grinned. Subtle indeed.

***

With four older brothers, and her parents raising five children on a bosun’s pay, Nav was well versed in creative ways to use leftovers. So when ‘beef stew’ was put on the menu for dinner, she wasn’t exactly hanging out for mealtime.

The smells coming from the galley began much earlier than usual, just after breakfast, and throughout the entire day various sailors moaned about how they couldn’t wait to taste it. Nav was too busy to think about it much, first with a search for a missing yacht, then charting a route for the rescued sailors to replace their broken GPS.

When she finally returned to the ship it was late afternoon, and dinner was a scant two hours away. Nav stilled in the act of taking off her lifejacket. She recognised that smell.

Tomatoes, oregano, basil, garlic - this wasn’t just beef stew. It was slow cooked beef ragu, her favourite.

With difficulty, she ignored the desire to hang out in front of the galley like so many of the junior sailors had been doing, and returned to the bridge to commence her evening watch. She could barely concentrate on her tasks, she was so distracted by anticipation.

Finally, Bomber came up with two plates for Nav and Swain, the two on watch.

Nav greeted her with a giant smile, and practically moaned when she tasted the first mouthful. “Oh my god, Bomber, this is amazing.”

“Yeah, Bomb, this is excellent, great job,” Swain added from the helm.

Bomber grinned. “Thanks, always fun to do something different.”

“You made it really well, better than I could have. And believe me, I’ve made this many times, it’s my favourite meal.”

“Oh really? I didn’t know that. Glad you approve, it was a nice challenge. I think even ET had fun with it.”

Nav stopped, the spoon halfway to her mouth. “ET was with you in the galley today?”

Bomber nodded. “Yep, even managed to do it without much whining.” She collected the empty plates and turned to go back downstairs. “Oh, and thanks for the recipe, by the way.” She was gone before Nav could formulate a reply.

Swain looked at Nav knowingly. “You didn’t give her the recipe, did you?”

A smile spread over her face. “No.”

***

It had been a Bad Day. The weather was miserable, the CO was grouchy, and the search plan she had led ended up in the two missing girls being found dead. Add in the lack of sleep from overnight watch and her imminent period, and Nav was in a very bad mood.

She did her best not to show it while on the bridge with the others, but after she snapped at RO for being too slow to hand her their new coordinates, she chose to take herself off the bridge before the boss ordered her off.

At least she was alone in her cabin, Kate being on watch. She could do paperwork and lose herself in monotonous bureaucracy.

For a few minutes, it worked, then she was distracted by cravings.

A trip to the mess found no chocolate. Bomber apologised, looking very contrite, but it didn’t fix her problem.

In an even worse mood, she returned to her cabin. And stopped in the doorway. Atop the pile of papers was a packet of M&Ms.

She looked up and down the corridor, but saw no-one lurking. Stepping inside her cabin and closing the door behind her, she lifted the packet and inhaled deeply. Then she ripped it open.

It wasn’t until she had swallowed the first handful that she realised there was a piece of paper where the M&Ms had been sitting. She took a seat at the desk and picked up the note.

“Cheer up,” it said, in familiar blocky handwriting. “It’s raining!”

A slow smile crossed her face, and she leaned back in her chair, popping M&Ms in her mouth and listening to the soothing sound of the rain on the hull.

***

It had been a long and tiring patrol, and the last thing Nav wanted to do was paperwork. However, she knew from experience that if she didn’t make the boys do it right away, they’d forget the details - on the rare occasion they were required to submit anything at all. So she asked.

As expected, RO’s report was submitted within an hour. ET’s took a while longer, the knock at her door coming just a few minutes before the deadline she’d set. Also predictable. They were so different, her charges.

“Here’s the report you wanted, Nav,” he said, handing over a sheaf of papers. There was a sparkle in his eyes as he slowly withdrew his hand, ensuring their fingers touched for a few seconds.

“Thanks, ET,” she replied, using her ‘officer’ voice. She began skimming, reading just enough to confirm it was completed properly. “Are you going to watch me read the whole thing?” she asked, not looking up.

“No,” came the cheeky reply, and she heard his boots exit the room, the click of the door closing behind him.

With a shake of her head, she suppressed a grin, and turned the page. A piece of paper fluttered to the floor, and she reached down to collect it, making a mental note to remind ET he was supposed to staple the reports together.

But the paper she picked up wasn’t typed, it was handwritten. She looked closer. And it wasn’t in English.

A smile grew across her face as she slowly translated the note, putting her rather rusty Italian to the test.

_ Dear Beautiful, _

_ I am learning Italian, because I know how important your heritage is to you, and want us to be able to travel to Italy together some day. _

_ I’m sorry for taking the posting and screwing up (again). Promise it’s not intentional sabotage. Eventually, we’ll figure out how to make this thing between us work. _

_ Love, _

_ Your Sky Eyes _

***

RO interrupted her on the way out of the senior sailors mess after lunch. “Ma’am, could you talk to ET?”

Nav blinked. “I’m sorry, RO?”

He indicated the inside of the mess, and followed her through the door. “Could you talk to ET about cleaning up the paper in our cabin?”

“Paper? What’s he doing with paper?” she asked, confused.

“Apparently he’s ‘learning the calming art of origami’,” RO replied, finger quotes and all. “Though it’s not really calming, more frustrating. For both of us. There’s been a lot of yelling, and there’s ripped paper everywhere.”

She was probably gaping at him. Should really close her mouth. But… “ET is doing  _ origami _ ?”

RO tilted his head at her. “That’s what I just said. So you’ll get him to clean up after himself, ma’am?”

Recognising the end of the conversation, she nodded and dismissed him, mind still on ET folding paper.

With the pursuit of a foreign fishing vessel, and the subsequent boarding of said vessel, then her own night watch, Nav didn’t get a chance to talk to ET that day. She made a mental note to do so the following morning, right after breakfast to ensure nothing got in the way.

When she entered the ship’s office to file the nightly paperwork, it was sitting on the desk.

A bird of some kind. Made out of paper.

She picked it up and turned it over in her fingers. It wasn’t the usual crane, the neck wasn’t long enough, the body fatter. Possibly it was just that the creator wasn’t very skilled, but it looked rather deliberately  _ not _ a crane.

Then she noticed there was writing on the paper. Carefully, so as not to unfold the shape, she flattened the paper enough to read the words. And suddenly she recognised the bird - it was a seagull. She grinned widely.

_ Not wayward anymore. _

***

 

**Author's Note:**

> 8 years after my last fan fiction, and I'm back in the game. And what better fandom to come back to than the one that spawned my favourite ever pairing?  
> This is going to be a series of behind-the-scenes stories about Nav+ET's relationship through S2, keeping as close to canon as possible (sometimes slipping into fanon).


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